NRL WAGS DEBACLE HAS ASHES IN JEOPARDY
THE public relations disaster that was the NRL wives being flown into Queensland has flowed all the way to the Ashes.
Despite pleas from British counterpart Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has remained firm on no quarantine short cuts for wives and families of English cricketers at this summer’s Ashes.
It is understood the government noted the backlash Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk faced for welcoming NRL WAGS during a pause on interstate arrivals.
The government has told officials that letting the wives of cricketers in the country is a significant concession given there are thousands of Australians overseas unable to return home.
It believes to go further and offer quarantine “privileges’’ would be to run the risk of a backlash along the lines of the WAGS saga that forced the Queensland premier to apologise.
London’s Daily Telegraph has reported that England is preparing for mass withdrawals if players are told they will be confined to hotels under strict bubble conditions for the tour.
England is concerned about the strain of going from the T20 World Cup in Dubai, to a 10-week Ashes tour before heading to the West Indies for another long tour.
But of the 17 players used in England’s Test series against India, only seven are off to Dubai while the likes of skipper Joe Root, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson all have about two months at home before heading Down Under if named in the Ashes squad on October 1.
There will be good news for the players when they land in Queensland in November in that they will be allowed out of hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast to train each day.
Players who have experienced hard quarantine say the difference of being room-bound and being allowed out for several hours a day can make a major difference.
There is hope they may be allowed to roam around their hotel during the two-week quarantine period but that has not been confirmed.
Australia was set to paint a reasonably optimistic picture for the tourists in the final quarantine proposal.
After the two weeks of quarantine players would be permitted to lead a relatively normal life, certainly during the first two Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide, which have limited Covid restrictions.
The landscape is more challenging in Melbourne and Sydney, but with mass vaccinations there is optimism that by the time England visits those cities over the Christmas and New Year periods many current restrictions may have eased.
But nothing is certain. The fifth Test of the series, to be held in Perth, has a query over it because of that state’s hard border restrictions, which require a two-week quarantine.
Cricket Australia has a deadline of this weekend to provide its blueprint for bubble restrictions for the tour.
The ECB will give the players several days to digest the detail and will meet them early next week before players are asked to confirm their availability and a squad is chosen.
Veteran paceman Stuart Broad and batsman Dan Lawrence have already indicated their willingness to tour no matter what the conditions but other players are reported to have deeper reservations.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan spoke out this week in defence of the mental stress imposed on modern players by claiming that bubble restrictions had become unsustainable.